A once promising prospect who was unbeaten in 11 fights, Philadelphia’s Derek ‘Pooh’ Ennis 13-2 (10) started his second comeback off a loss last night scoring 5 knockdowns to beat Todd Manning 6-4-2 (3), of Wheeling, West Virginia at 1:03 of the 2nd round of a middleweight bout. The show was in Oaks, Pennsylvania, at the Cisco Arena, promoted by Greg Robinson’s Power Productions and Xtreme Productions in Association with Cintron Beverage Group.

Ennis was coming off a 10 month lay-off and looked sharp landing a straight right hand dropping Manning for the first knockdown. Within seconds a right uppercut found the mark in the mid-section and down again went Manning. A straight right hand before the bell sent Manning down for a third time. Give him credit, Manning was game.

Starting the 2nd round a left hook to the body found its mark dropping Manning for the fourth time. Manning up on one knee looked to his corner for them to possibly stop the fight. Up again he was dropped that fast with another left hook to the jaw and down for the fifth time. Referee Hurley McCall had seen enough stopping it at 1:03 of the 2nd.

Ennis had been stopped for his first loss on Showtime in early 2007 by Allen Conyers (10-2) after exchanging knockdowns. Then in his last fight while easily winning the first two rounds he was flattened by Alfonso Williams (9-2). This fight marked the first time his father Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis was not in his corner. His brother Farah, 5-0 (3), was in Tennessee on the HBO card, scoring a win of his own with the luxury of having his father in the corner. The younger Ennis, by two years, is a 25 year old light heavyweight.

In the best fight of the night, Travis ‘The Animal’ Thompson, 3-2 (2), of nearby Pottstown, scored a 2nd round knockdown that made Elisa Castillo, 0-5, of the Bronx, New York get up and fight that much harder. Even though Thompson won all four rounds on the scorecards of this lightweight contest, he took as much as he gave the rest of the way while having a courageous Castillo bleeding from the nose and mouth at the finish. Veteran trainer Marty Feldman handles Thompson, a former high school wrestler.

Coy Evans, 2-0-1, of Philadelphia seemed to have easily won all but the 3rd round when he stayed on the ropes long enough for Greensboro, North Carolina’s Jason Rorie, 1-1, to land some punches of his own in this featherweight match-up. All of the three judges registered different votes in this one. Vic deWysocki was the third man in the ring.

Light heavyweight Shannon Anderson, 4-1-1NC (2), of nearby Coatesville made short work of Winston Salem, North Carolina’s John Fleming, 0-2, scoring a knockdown before referee McCall rescued a defenseless Fleming stopping it at 1:18 of the 1st round.

In a re-match of a draw decision last November, Anthony Gatt, 6-0-1 (4), introduced out of Philadelphia had Kevin Hood, 5-9-1, out of Lancaster, out on his feet in the 1st round with a lead right hand followed by a left hook. Gatt would later admit “I was afraid to punch myself out like I did in our first fight”. Gatt got the better of Hood in the next two close rounds before seemingly running out of gas and losing the 4th on one of the judges scorecards. Gatt, a local star athlete who at 33 started boxing in 2001 but has had two inactive periods losing almost four years of boxing in that time frame. He is a fan favorite with a good following. Both fighters are small heavyweights.

The promoter’s next show will be outdoors August 1st, in the middle of the 422 Business Plaza, where the Cisco Arena is inside the SE Sports Extreme building. If rain should occur they won’t have far to get to an alternative building. The ‘Rumble on the Concrete Jungle’ will feature hard hitting middleweight Rasheem Brown, 19-3 (15), and former USBA featherweight champion Rasheem Jefferson, 15-1-1 (6), losing his title in his last bout and eager for a return to the ring.